The Final Redemption
by sk33j
Summary: Two years after Ultemecia. Zell is an instructor, Rinoa and Irvine are taking their SeeD exams, Squall is Garden's military commander and Quistis and Selphie are rank A SeeDs as always. R&R. Contains strong language.
1. Prologue: Up Early

_**Set around two years after Ultemicia. Just a quick intro to a story I was considering, if people like, I'll continue it :-D**_

_**Obviously, characters, backstory and any other FF8 stuff are copyright of squaresoft. Any characters, story and ideas not from Final Fantasy is all mine.**_

_**If you like it, review it. If you don't like it, review it anyway! ;-)**_

_**I don't mind you telling me so if you think it's crap, so long as you tell me why :-P**_

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**Prologue - Up Early, 10 days beforehand**

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Zell walked across the gravel floor of the training centre, almost as though daring another grat to show itself from the bushes nearby. This morning he was practicing his magic without any GFs junctioned. In barely two hours he had to be teaching his class basic para-magic and it had been a long time since he had used para-magic himself, in fact he was quite unused to not having a Gaurdian juntioned at all, and it had left him with a sense of emptyness. He now begun to understand what all the GF critics meant when they claimed that "SeeD's dependence on Gaurdian Forces to fight would be their downfall", though he would not by any means go that far, as his connection to Siren and Cerebrus could hardly be classed as a dependence, or so he thought - Often most SeeD's didn't realize how much they did depend on their Gaurdians.

He caught a glimpse of something moving in the dense vegitation, a grat's stalk-arm wavering near a tree. He paused for a second, considering. He took a slow step forwards but his attemp at stealth was to no avail, as the grat, sensing that it had been detected, promptly released enough sleeping gas to down a T-Rexaur.

_Fuck,_ thought Zell,_ I hate it when they do this._

"Firaga," He said, raising his arm to point in the direction of the grat.

The effect was immeadiate, the creature and the plants around were engulfed in the fireball as the sleeping gas filled the air, entering Zell's lungs and poisoning him with the noxious gas. Dizzyness overcame him, and he fell to his knees as he struggled to keep conscious. Focusing his eyes on the ground in front of his face, he concentrated, and put a leg out in front of him, and rose to his feet. His footing failed him, and his eyes slid closed even before his limp form hit the ground. With a surge of anger at his own weakness, he regained the concentration that he needed to act.

"Haste,"

The magic entered him, acting like a stimulant, both keeping him awake as well as greatly heightening his speed and reflexes.

_Sure as hell beats coffee._

He stood back up, just before getting whipped across the face by another grat. Not wanting to waste any time with magic, he simply punched it; it was a fairly light blow in comparison with what he normally could hit, but the grat crumpled as if it were made of rice paper. It was dead. He could feel the blood drawn by it's attack as it ran down his face. An insubstantial amount, but he cast cure anyway, instantly sealing the cut. The rest of the blood was wiped from his cheek by the back of his hand.

Moving on through the training centre, he came to a point where he could feel an energy in the air, magical energy. He could feel it around him, but he was unable to draw it without having a Gaurdian Force junctioned. He tried several times, unsuccessfully, before giving up. Para-magic was one thing, but drawing without a junction was something only few were capable of. Rinoa came to mind.

A loud rumble from his stomach interuppeted his thoughts, and another thought that had been forming in his mind for the last half-hour finally took shape and took over his mental state. He started to head back to the entrance to the training centre, intending to head to the Cantine. Maybe he could blag himself some of last night's hotdogs, not that there would be any left anyway. Still, training himself up was important, but he really couldn't teach a class on an empty stomach.

He mentally went through his schedule for the day, first he had a couple of hours teaching basic para-magic to a group of fairly young cadets, then an hour or so free, lunch, then three whole hours of teaching SeeD candidates advanced battle tactics. He had a group of about five or six martial arts specialists, all taking the SeeD test in barely two week's time. They would need to be accompanied to the GF aquisition test soon as well. He wondered where it would be held this year, in the year when him, Squall, Selphie and Nida graduated it was the fire cavern, but this year the location had not yet been revealed. Zell supposed that Cid and the garden faculties wouldn't say so that students couldn't prepare for the specific location.

There were many more students taking the test this year than ever before, mainly due to the increased popularity SeeD had after the Ultimecia incident. Irvine and Rinoa were also taking the test this year, having fast-tracked their way through the training in account of their field duty beforehand.

Zell had no doubt that they would both smoke the field test without any trouble whatsoever, and the GF aquisition would be no problem for them, as they had prior experience with Gaurdians. Zell's only worry was that Irvine would fail the written test, on account of his cool, cocky "I don't need to revise it," attitude. Not Rinoa though - she was a hell of a good student.

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Zell's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a rather tired-looking Xu rushing through the garden lobby, a mass of reports and briefing papers in her hands, and her hair a whole lot more untidy than would be expected for a woman with such a high ranking administrative position within garden. Not that this was unusual, she was overworked, now more so than ever with all the paperwork of the impending field exam. He called her over. 

"Hey Zell, what is it that brings you out this early in the morning?" She said with her normal buisinesslike, but friendly tone.

"Oh, you know, just fitting in some training before my work as an instructor takes over for the day." He smiled and eyed the mass of paper she was carrying, "And yourself? Looks as though you've had a busy night."

"Just taking these to the headmaster." She indicated the papers in her hands "Was there something you wanted?"

Zell sighed. "What's the word on the SeeD tests? Location fixed yet, or do we not get to know until the morning of the exams? Not that that has ever happened before..." He rolled his eyes.

"Not for the final field exam, we will simply have to see what kind of missions are on offer."

"And the others?"

"Well, the location for the Gaurdian Force test has been chosen - a cave in the mountains north of Balamb. The headmaster was quite adamant that it be used. It's likely to make for a more difficult time than in previous years, but we have many more candidates this year..." She trailed off, pausing for a moment, then continued. "Honestly, I think it's going to be far too hard on the students but... Cid seems to think that we need to weed out all of the weaker ones, so we are just left with the best of the best. Apparently only the strongest people are fit to be SeeDs."

"I'll take that as a complement then." He flashed her a grin, but the expression on her face caused his smile to dissapear almost instantly. "I wouldn't worry, she'll make it Xu. She's one of the strongest fighters I've ever seen, and that's no exaggeration." He gave her shoulder a reassuring sqeeze and walked off in the direction of the cafeteria.

"...I sure hope your right, Zell."

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Irvine was vaguely aware of a harsh ringing in his ears, he let out a low moan and rolled over. A small yelp was heard from under him. He moved back.

"Sorry, Selph. Hyne, what time is it?"

"Time for you to get up and start studying for that written test of yours." Selphie grinned and poked him playfully.

"Awwwwww, why do they have to make me suffer. I came through the whole Ultemicia mission with you guys, I mean, can't they make me an honerary SeeD or something?"

"Nope, no test, no SeeD. You've supposedly been a student here for the last year and I've yet to see you take a single one of your classes seriously. You really need to revise to pass this written exam, especially since you probably never learnt most of the stuff you need to know in the first place. I've been through this Irvy, I know." She paused, almost as if she were surprised at the seriousness of her own words, "Besides which, Rinoa is taking the test too, and she's been through as much, if not more than you have, Mr Irvine Kinneas."

_Never really thought of Selphie as the type for study, _Irvine mused, _but she's right - she has been through this before. Now I come to thisnk of it, almost everyone I know has. I wonder what they would all say if I actually failed this. What if I never become a SeeD? Would they let me stay at Garden? What if I got kicked out, what would I do then...?_

Selphie was looking at him, wondering what kind of an impact her words had made. The alarm clock still rang incessantly.

"All right, you win." He muttered, standing up and shutting off the alarm with his hand.

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"Enough of your half-assed excuses, this isn't the first time I've caught you at this! It is an invasion of privacy, and it is going to stop, one way or another! We are going to see the headmaster, and either this is the last time that you try something like this, or I'll see to it that you are thrown out of Garden!"

The three girls who had been listening at the door of Squall and Rinoa's dorm room were exposed to the full extent of the rage of Quistis Trepe. Two of them, blondes, evidently twins, stood rooted to the spot, torn between fear and anger as Quistis continued roaring at the top of her voice. The other, a tall thirteen year-old with short brown hair burst into tears.

Quistis was unfazed as she marched them along through the first floor lobby.

"In all my time, I have never witnessed anything so pathetic, and so... _sick_ as you three's interest in that couple's private life. I don't even understand why you do it, don't you have lives of your own to be getting on with rather than prying into theirs?"

She shoved them into the elevator that would take them up to the headmaster's office.

"This ends, now. You can all explain your selves to Headmaster Cid, and we can see if he thinks that it is 'just a bit of fun', Miss Marcey Hunter!" One of the blonde girls flinched at the sound of her name, then retorted angrily:

"That _couple_, Rinoa and Squall, woke up the entire east wing of the dorms with their shouting early this morning, they were having a massive row over something. Are you going to try to get us punished for going to see what all the fuss was about?"

"You were not just going to see what the fuss was about! You were spying on them! I have caught you before and I have caught you at it again! Do not lie to _me, _girl!"

The girl's twin spoke up, "Just because you failed as an instructor, and you lost your job, you still have to act like you have power around here, don't you?" She spat, livid. "You just try to exercise your authority on us because you lost your teaching position!"

Quistis turned to the girl, her voice quiet, but every syllable trembling with fury.

"What did you just say to me?" The look in her eyes was frightening.

The door of the lift pinged open. They strode out into Headmaster Cid's office, the taller girl lagging behind, now sobbing uncontrollably.

Cid and Xu were there, their expressions turned to shock as they saw the four who had just walked into the office.

The three teenage children awaited their doom.

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Selphie walked into the cafeteria, her arm around a tearful Rinoa. They made their way over to the table where Zell and Irvine were seated and sat down themselves. Zell stopped talking to Irvine mid-sentence. Irvine looked at Selphie and made a meaningful gesture over to Rinoa.

"Squall" She mouthed silently. Irvine made a half-nod, and Quistis walked in.

"Those damn kids..." She started, but she trailed off at the sight of Rinoa.

Quistis figured that she knew why she was so upset. She froze for a moment, turned and walked out of the cafeteria. Breakfast would have to wait this morning.

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The high-pitched shriek of a Granaldo cut through the air of the Training Centre as the luminous blue blade of the Lionheart cut through the side of its abdomen. The blade was withdrawn and then mercilessly stabbed directly into the middle of the insect creature. A finger squeezed the trigger of the weapon and a shot of pulse ammo hit the creature, vaporising the flesh around the point of it's impact and blasting the remaining pieces of the Granaldo across the dirt that formed the floor.

_Why the hell can't she just accept the way I feel, she knows I didn't want her to try for SeeD. She knows that all of the past year I allowed her to do it even though I didn't agree with it. Why is it such a big deal now. Because the exam's coming up? I've supported her because it's what she wants, and I've accepted that, but now she expects me to actually like the idea?_

An attempt by a Raldo to stop the vicious assailant was cut short by a boot and another shot of pulse ammo. A grat was sheared in two by the blue blade. The remaining two Raldos hesitated, their limited intelligence telling them that their odds of winning this battle were very low. A hand was raised in their direction, and a single word shouted:

"_Flare!"_

The mass of non-elemental energy engulfed them, tearing them apart at a molecular level. The sheer amount of energy great enough to break the bond that held together their individual atoms, reducing the two Raldos to something less than vapour.

Squall could feel the heat from his magic from over twenty feet away. The intensity of the attack reduced the ground around it to a parched, burnt mess. He drove his gunblade into the dirt and went down onto one knee.

_I just don't understand. I know she's stressed out because of the exam, but I've helped her with what she needs to know. I've helped her to train, what more does she want from me?_

The voice of Ifrit manifest itself in his head.

_It is not always the best thing to dwell too long on such problems as this, Leonheart_

_Shut up, Ifrit. If I wanted your input on my personal problems I would have asked for it _He retored, speaking not out loud but only to Ifrit using his thoughts.

One of the drawbacks to having GFs junctioned was that you could never be truly alone. Ifrit spoke again.

_Very well then, but my advice should not be taken lightly. Dwelling on your problems will only make them seem much greater than they actually are, and you will accomplish nothing_

Squall unjunctioned Ifrit, Doomtrain and Eden, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

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_**Well that's it, not the greatest of introductions I know but if anyone likes it then I'll continue with some more chapters. I've actuallly got a lot more planned for this fic than might be apparent from the nature of my first chapter, but I figured I'd start with some life around Garden, and leave the exciting sections till later...**_

_**And no, you're not supposed to know who "she" that Zell mentioned to Xu actually is yet, but if you want to guess, feel free :-D. It will be revealed with time, and possibly the next chapter :-P**_


	2. Chapter 1: The SeeD Candidates

_**10 days have passed since the prologue, and the SeeD test is merely 4 days away**_

_**Characters, backstory and any other FF8 stuff are copyright of squaresoft. Anything not from Final Fantasy 8 is all mine.**_

_**This chapter will be introducing several new characters into the FF8 world...**_

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**Chapter 1 - The SeeD Candidates**

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A solitary female figure sat cross-legged on the cold floor of a student dormitory. Her eyes were half-closed and her hands resting on her knees. Long brunette hair hung untidily down her back. She wore no shoes. The only sound in the room, aside from her slow, rythmatic breathing, was the regular ticking of a small grey clock hung on the wall.

Her dormitory was very bland and sparse, with no decoration whatsoever, but it was unnaturally tidy and neat. The bed was made, her student uniform hung up on a hanger next to her bed, and a few issues of 'Weapons Monthly' stacked in a pile at the end of her bed, organised by month. A square mirror hung on the wall, and the blinds covering a small window were closed, allowing practically no light into the plain, emotionless dorm room. A closed black case, presumably containing her weapon of choice, was one of only two items that lay on the small table that sat by her bed. The other was a picture of Xu, the head of the administration of Balamb Garden, and her mentor and older sister. Xu had a happy but dignified look in the photo, as she stood there in her uniform. The picture was taken after she graduated as a SeeD.

She sat there, meditating, analysing the thoughts that passed through her brain, and then releasing them effortlessly back into the darkness of her mind. She thought of things that she had learned, the upcoming SeeD exams, fighting styles and techniques and she remembered things that otherwise would have remained long forgotton. Her childhood, playing with friends in her home in Galbadia, her first school, and going to Garden after the death of her parents.

Her breathing fell out of it's regularity, losing it's pattern, and she took a deep breath inwards, filling her lungs with air. Holding her breath for a long moment she cleared her mind of all thought, and enjoyed the nothingness, her brain resting after the exertion of the morning's classes.

She released the air, opened her eyes, which peered around the room as if she had just awoken from a very deep sleep, then she stood up and looked in the mirror. She saw a seventeen year old girl staring back at her, Xiang Mihkel, an A-grade student in all of her classes, and an excellent magic-user and fighter, both with weapons and hand to hand combat. She straightened her hair and tied it behind her head.

Before heading out, she perched her self on the edge of her bed and opened the weapons case next to it. She pulled out three Sai, the weapons in a three-pronged, forked shape with the centre prong being straight and much longer. The central blade was slightly longer than her forearm, so that when held with her hand angled forwards and the sai pointed backwards it extended just past her elbow. She attached the three weapons into her belt, one in the middle on her back and the other two on each side, ready.

She left her dorm, the door closing noiselessly behind her as she went.

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Zell rushed into his classroom on the second floor, late, to find an irritated class awaiting him. Several of the class jerked back to consiousness at his entering, not surprising considering that it was a friday afternoon, some acknowledged him with a nod. As well as Xiang and her blonde haired friend, he caught sight of Irvine and Rinoa sitting alongside each other in the third row. Irvine grinned at Zell's enterance and Rinoa giggled. One student in the front row simply continued to stare at the front of the class with a bored expression.

"Twenty minutes, Instructor Dinct." He said in a drawling tone. "You get later every lesson, and I'm sure you wouldn't be overly-pleased if one of us turned up this late."

Zell clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to punch him. The boy's cocky attitude was so remisent of Seifer's that Zell disliked him at the best of times, and this definatly wasn't the best of times.

"Well then, _Mr Undine_, perhaps we can make up for those twenty lost minutes after class. You can stay behind later if you like, or alternatively you could just shut the fuck up. Your choice." Upon becoming an instructor, Zell had quickly learnt to handle the students with no mercy whatsoever. Joris Undine restrained the insult that was playing at his lips, and sat back in his chair with a smirk.

Zell glared at him for a moment before adressing the rest of the class. "Now then, as this is your last lesson before your tests on Monday, we will be going over anything that you havn't quite got yet, and then we will head to the training centre to have a final practice of your magic and fighting skills. I also think that you should be using the weekend wisely, if you fail on monday you will have another year to wait before you get another chance at it, so make sure that you're all on top form come next week."

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Squall sat with Quistis, Xu, Selphie and several other high ranking SeeDs were seated in the Headmaster's office, listening to him talk about the security that would be needed for the upcoming elections in Galbadia. As a rule, Galbadian elections were held every five years, but when Deling was killed by Edea, the Vice-President, Judiah Portland, was given a very rapid promotion and served out the rest of Deling's term. He was generally thought of as a better leader than Deling ever was, although he still stuck by many of Deling's decisions, such as not giving Timber independence. As such, Rinoa thought very little of him.

Cid continued to drone on about the other three possible candidates for election and their political manifestos. Squall showed little interest until he began to actually talk about their next assignment. A candiate called Frank Brisan was having a rally in Deling City and he wanted to hire SeeD to provide him with some extra security for the event. Selphie made some comment about him not trusting his own people but Squall had sunk back into his stupor. Politics wasn't something he knew or cared about.

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A Grat emerged from the dense foliage of the training centre.

"Right Undine, you first."

Joris showed some irritation at being chosen first, but he unsheathed his two katanas and stood to face the monster. He jumped forwards and spun round, the blade of one of his katanas slahed though the fleashy body of the Grat and then he quickly embedded the other into a point just above the wound, with the intent of killing it, but he missed the vital point and injured it badly, but not enough to kill it in one.

The wounded creature lashed out with its branches, aiming for Joris' head, but he was far too quick for it. Ducking under the attack, he roared "Thunder!", and thrust his other blade deep into its body. The electrical energy from the magic arced down the length of the weapon. It slumped dead, killed by these rapid attacks.

"Impressive, not even a scratch." Zell said in approval. "Irvine, next one is yours."

There was a moments silence, then a rustle heard not far off. Irvine levelled his gun and fired, and something no-one else had noticed fell dead.

"Damn I'm good." He said with a grin.

"Uhm... yeah," Zell muttered. He hadn't expected Irvine's go to be over so quickly. "Who's next?"

A girl with short blonde hair stepped forwards. She had been standing next to Xiang.

"Andrea? Okay then."

The girl, trembling slightly, strode forwards so that she was standing apart from the class, and looked around. She used no weapon - her magic was her only defence, and she had several magic powers which were all her own - even Rinoa found them impossible to imitate. A Raldo came flying out of the undergrowth at an alarming speed and hit her hard. She gasped and was knocked to the floor with the force of the blow. The Raldo appeared as much stunned by this as she was, if less hurt. She made no attempt to get back up, but she held her hand out in front of her at the creature as it began to advance. She muttered something incomprehensible under her breath.

The air seemed to distort around her as she drew in the magical energy from her surroundings. After a long moment she jerked her wrist back, and a huge blast of air blew the Raldo backwards through the air. It landed with a thud about ten feet from where it started. Enraged, it roared and charged her. She dived out of the way with surprising agility, and charged up another attack, a ball of fire forming on each of her hands. The beast charged her again, but this time she stood still and released her spell at it.

There ball of fire hit the ground in front of the Raldo with a bang, causing an explosion, the heat fried the creature and the blast knocked Andrea down into the dirt. The class was showered with a mixture of Ranaldo blood and mud. Andrea walked back to the class, a smile on her face.

"How's about some warning next time, eh?" Zell asked with a laugh. "Some impressive skills that you have there, but maybe try to keep them in check on the battlefield. We don't want any casualties on our own side."

"Gotcha, Instuctor." She said hastily, and stood back with the class.

"Right Darnell, you next." He indicated a boy who was standing on his own near the back of the class group, as though hoping his turn would never come.

The boy gulped and took a hesitant step forwards and stood on his own, about ten yards away from the group. He stood and lifted his weapon from his back - A large double-bladed sword. The edge of it seemed plated with adamantine, as the side of the blade was a metallic blue, slightly luminous in the dim light of the training centre. In actuality it was one massive blade, about five foot long, that went to a point at each end. The middle of it had a wooden handle covered with leather, for a better grip.

He fell into his fighting stance as he waited, but otherwise remained still. The waiting and tension irritated him, he wanted this over with. After thirty seconds had passed he couldn't take it any longer.

"Dammit, why won't any of you bastards come out and face me?" His shout filled the training centre, then echoed in the silence.

"Idiot." Joris said none too quietly, not caring who overheard him.

A low rumbling sound filled the training centre, and a dull thudding was heard. It seemed to be getting closer. Zell knew that it could only mean one thing.

"Shit," A T-Rexaur pounded into view, smashing aside trees in an effort to locate the source of the sound. "Rinoa, Xiang, Jowan, Joris, get out there and give him some backup, NOW! Everyone else, get back to the entrance to the training centre and wait there for us." Zell ran forwards with Xiang and the student called Jowan. Rinoa hesitated, then took a single step towards them.

The massive T-Rexaur charged forwards and then turned, swingiing its tail in a wide arc at Darnell. A yell of "Protect!" was heard and the tail hit as the blue shield took shape in front of the boy, the impact sent him flying backwards through the air. His body, contorted, hit the floor with both a thud and a very audiable cracking of bones.

Rinoa sent a blizzaga at the twenty-foot monster, visibly injuring it. Zell didn't miss a beat. Xiang drew two of her Sai out of her belt.

"Rinoa, help Darnell and get him the hell out of here, we'll deal with the damn dinosaur!"

The student called Jowan sent a blizzard spell up at it. Zell dived forwards and thrust his fist into its stomach, before being knocked out of the way by a swing of the T-Rexaur's head. He had to quickly roll sideways out of reach to escape its gaping maw.

Rinoa cast a quick curaga on the inert body of Darnell, then attempted to carry him away towards the entrance to the training centre. Realising thaat she could not move him without causing further damage, she paused and looked back to see Jowan run forwards and bury his longsword into the chest of the dinosaur. He pushed forwards with all of his power, burying the weapon in its flesh up to the hilt, and then ripped it out, tearing vital organs and flesh alike.

The wounded monster roared out in anger and pain. Such a bellow that could be heard as far away as the library shook the training center. It rose up fully onto its back legs and stood upwards, rising to its full height. It tilted its huge head backwards, streching out the front of the neck.

_The neck, _as soon as the thought had formed in her brain, Xiang let the Sai in her right hand fly. The force and accuracy of her throw sent the point of the weapon directly into the vunerable neck of the T-Rexaur, cutting through those vital arteries that supplied blood to the brain. Blood spurted from the wound, the sound of Irvine's Exeter was heard, and the monster roared again, its bleeding intensified. The dark red liquid gushing from its throat covered the ground as it fell. Jowan was forced to dive out of the way to avoid getting crushed. It crashed to the ground.

Zell ran to where Rinoa and Irvine were struggling with Darnell. Without saying a word to anyone he lifted the eighteen year-old in a firemans lift and left for the infirmary, leaving the two of them standing there slightly bewildered.

Joris sheathed his two katanas.

"Well that was a great call by Mr Intructor Dincht, what a prat, sending that dumbass out there on his own, it's a wonder he got this damn job, never mind how he managed to keep it for this long."

"Excuse me?" Rinoa glared at Joris, a look of thunder on her face. He turned to face her, incredulous.

_Shit, this is gonna turn ugly, _Irvine knew that he should do something, but his experience told him that when Rinoa got angry, it was best NOT to interfere. He subconsciously put his hand on her shoulder.

"You were saying something about Zell. You think that he isn't fit for the job. Why?" Rinoa attempted to hold her voice even and steady, but she was failing miserably.

"Gee, let's see," Joris said sacastically, "First he turns up late for his own lesson, then he talks bullshit for half an hour, leads us down here to practice fighting against creatures that we could kill with our eyes closed, sends that dumb-fuck Darnell out on his own only to have him nearly killed by a T-Rexaur." Not knowing his danger, he allowed a small smirk to creep across his face, "He just thinks he's the man because he went through that time compression bullshit with you and those other SeeDs. Well, you know what, fuck him. He's a pathetic excuse for an instructor."

"You..." Rinoa spat. "You Bastard!" She slapped him across the face, full force. Joris staggered backwards in shock, clutching the side of his face. Rinoa turned on her heel and stormed out. Irvine followed, struggling to keep up.

"Bitch!" Joris yelled after her. He turned to Jowan. "You saw that - she attacked me! I'll have that filthy bitch done for assault."

Jowan ignored him completely and walked away, sheathing his sword as he went.

"Don't you walk away... you saw her!" He reached out and grabbed Xiang as she too went to walk away. "You'd stick up for me, wouldn't you. You understand."

Xiang stopped walking, but remained facing away from him. "Get your hand off me, Undine."

"Oh what, are you looking for a fight now too, well, bring it on you whore."

Xiang gave a small smile and glanced over to where the few of the class that remained were watching them.

"Not now, Undine, but some other time." She turned and looked at him. "Some other time."

Joris paused for a moment, considering, then walked away, spitting on the ground in front of her feet before he did so.

_Yeah, that's what I thought too, you Coward._

She strode over to where the T-Rexaur lay and crouched down next to it's head. She pulled her Sai out of the neck and wiped the blood off it. Before she put it back into her belt and stood up, she looked again over towards the entrance to catch a glimpse of Joris striding out of the training centre.

_Remember, another time, Undine. I will not forget. Neither should you._

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_**Well there we go for now, more soon !**_

_**Hope you liked this intro to the new characters, yeah, I know you havn't seen much of them yet, but they will be featuring as much in this fic as the main characters already from FF8, perhaps even more so.**_

_**And no, Joris is not meant to be likeable.**_


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